Thursday, May 3, 2012

Baribote: The
pearl we all refused to celebrate

For those who do not like satire will fight and
misrepresent me here. Let us dance together in this show first. So many people
are so naïve in this great nation of ours. I just discovered how as a people we
don’t have a very rich history. No wonder history is no more taught in our
primary, secondary and tertiary institutions.

We have always lined up to celebrate the wrong
people. It’s a big shame. I stumbled on some records again (as usual?) and
found out that Chief Victor Rumson Baribote is one man who should be in the
Guinness Book of Records by now. This is one man every sensible person in the
game of football should be idolizing.

We should all have been mesmerizing God for giving
us such a special talent in Baribote. A most unique personality never seen in
the aura and environment of the game in Nigeria whose records will be so
difficult to beat for a long time.

He was born on the 10th April 1978. Sadly
enough, I, like so many Nigerians did not realize this lest we should have
hired drums to celebrate his 34th birthday last month since we are
now in May.

You can even wonder how poor and miserly are the 20
professional clubs in the NPL such that none of them could even buy advert
space either on radio, television or newspaper to congratulate Nigeria’s ever
youngest NPL chairman.

At least, with Sports minister, Bolaji Abdullahi’s
peace pact that is reigning supreme in the game for now, which has obliterated
the judgment of a whole Federal High Court. Therefore, Baribote can still by
virtue of these be referred to as the sitting chairman of the NPL except that
his board members have gone underground due, probably, to the court order. That
makes his a one-man board.

Late Chief Adolphus Dubem Okafor bought the former
Exide Fc of Ibadan which was renamed as Kwara United in 1997 during the tenure
of then Colonel Peter Asum Mbu Ogar, the military administrator of Kwara State.

By official club records, Kwara Bombers FC of Ilorin
existed between 1990 and 1996. Baribote played for two seasons in the club.
Assuming he played in the last two years of the club’s existence (which is also
contrary to my assumption), that means we can agree he played in the 1994/95
and the 1995/1996 season. It was on record that the club went down on relegation
that season.

Here I come. Let’s shout Hurray for the great
Baribote! Go back to his age. He played for Kwara Bombers as a 14 year old!

Two, he obtained his school certificate in 2007! Yes
now. He claimed to have sat for the examination in Community Secondary School,
Okodia in Bayelsa State. Checks with WAEC showed that no school existed on the
accredited list of the year for the June or the November/December editions of
the examination. Except probably, it was NABTEC or NECO that he actually sat
for.

Three, the oath of office he swore to and signed
upon the election into the NPL on the 8th April 2011 was in his own
handwriting as a “Board member”. There must have been another election in the
dream world that satisfied all the laid down processes that brought him in as
“chairman”

All hail the magical fronds of footbrawl in Nigeria.
Long live these frauds!